Heart aflutter as Victory lines up finals

Date: February 4 2013

Michael Lynch

MELBOURNE Heart boss John Aloisi had good cause to reflect on the indiscipline of his Argentinian midfielder Jonatan Germano, who gave away a needless penalty in Saturday night's 2-1 derby defeat to Melbourne Victory.

He also had concerns about Josip Tadic's broken toe and whether it would keep the striker out for the remainder of the season.

Aloisi will also be waiting anxiously for bulletins from his staff as Heart looks to cover the loss of key players by bringing in some older, more experienced bodies in the fortnight that remains in the Australian transfer window.

Aloisi is seeking a high quality screening midfielder to replace the retired Vince Grella, who only played 20 minutes in his stay with the club before injury ended his career for good, and also a full-back to cover for the loss of Aziz Behich to Turkish club Bursaspor last week.

Heart chief executive Scott Munn was in Italy last week on what he described as ''sponsorship and commercial'' activity, not a search for investors, and there have been rumours that the club was close to tying up deals with European-based players who have the match fitness to come in at this stage of the campaign and help Heart secure a finals berth in the last eight games.

Football manager John Didulica insisted on Sunday that no agreements have been reached with any players, even though they are sure to be linked with plenty of names over the next 10 days.

Aloisi's counterpart at Victory, Ange Postecoglou, meanwhile, could take comfort from the fact that his youth revolution at the A-League's biggest club is paying dividends and that, barring accidents, Victory is on course for a top-two finish and the chance to host the A-League grand final, an achievement that would have been ahead of the schedule of even the most optimistic fans when the ex-Brisbane coach took the reins earlier this year.

There wasn't much between the two sides in front of a boisterous crowd of more than 41,000 at Etihad Stadium in a thrilling game on Saturday. Victory's win ensured it kept up the pressure on table-topping Central Coast and condemned Heart to a scrap in the lower reaches of the table to secure the fifth or sixth spot, which would take it into the finals for the second time in its three-year history.

Postecoglou was pleased with the performance of 17-year-old debutant Scott Galloway, who recently joined from the AIS. He was not overawed by the fevered derby atmosphere and while Heart's striker David Williams scored, full-back Galloway did more right than wrong.

In fact, the whole game was a good showcase for young Australian talent. Postecoglou also brought from the bench another teenager in Conor Pain with 10 minutes to play.

Heart has also put faith in its talented teens, although perhaps more through circumstances than choice. But they have not let anyone down.

Jeremy Walker, David Vrankovic and Sam Mitchinson, all first-year players, formed three quarters of what was probably the youngest and most inexperienced defence any A-League team has fielded.

Those three, and goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne, could barely muster 20 A-League games between them before the derby, so Aloisi has no cause for complaints.

Mitchinson and Walker, the full-backs, accounted themselves well against the likes of Marco Rojas in a challenging environment.

The Kiwi international has terrorised so many defences this season but on Saturday night he had one of his quieter games of the campaign. Walker also got forward well and linked to good effect with Richard Garcia on several occasions.

Where Aloisi can feel let down was in the way Germano, who in all other areas had a good game, gave away a needless penalty by shoving over countryman Marcos Flores in the penalty area off the ball.

''He's got to be smarter than that,'' Aloisi, who is not one to blast his players in public, said.

That spot kick - converted clinically by Mark Milligan - proved to be the difference. At 1-0 Heart still had realistic hopes of getting back into the match, but at 2-0 down it was left a mountain to climb.

Both sides can take plenty out of the game. Victory is on a roll and even though Rojas was quiet it was able to rely on the quality of Archie Thompson and Flores to fashion and finish chances.

Losing young defender Nick Ansell to injury once more will disrupt plans, but Postecoglou has already proved that he can be innovative and his players have shown they have enough faith in their leader to carry out his plans, no matter how unexpected they may be.

Heart has shown against the best team in the league that it can be more than competitive. Aloisi must harness the spirit and drive his charges showed against Victory so that it is in evidence in all games.

The next three weeks will define the red and white's season. They have games against Perth and Sydney at home and Newcastle away, all clubs that will be battling for those positions in the lower reaches of the top six.

Win them and Heart not only takes points itself but deprives its closest rivals. Lose those points, though, and the preparations for 2013-14 can begin earlier than hoped.